Voters have until Nov. 30 to mail their ballots in B.C.'s referendum on electoral reform.

Simon Little / Global News

With a crucial debate on the pros and cons of proportional representation (PR) scheduled for Thursday evening, a new poll has revealed British Columbians remain split on the issue.

B.C. is being asked to vote on whether to keep the current first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system, or to switch to a form of PR.

Thursday’s poll from Mainstreet Research reveals a statistical tie. If the vote were to be held immediately, it found that 50.5 per cent of voters would stick with the current FPTP system, while 49.5 per cent said they would vote for a PR system.

The Mainstreet poll also revealed a significant generation gap when it came to support for proportional representation.

It found that 62 per cent of respondents aged 18-34 support the switch, while the same percentage of people aged 65 and older favour keeping the current system. Voters aged 35-49 were nearly evenly split, while those aged 50-64 favoured FPTP 53.4 to 46.6 per cent.

The poll also revealed that British Columbians remain split on which provincial party they support.

WATCH: What you need to know about the proportional representation voting package

According to the poll, the Opposition BC Liberals led by Andrew Wilkinson had 33.9 per cent support among decided and leaning voters, a slight edge over John Horgan’s governing BC NDP, which was supported by 32.3 per cent of respondents.

Andrew Weaver’s BC Greens were supported by 18.2 per cent.

Horgan and Wilkinson are set to debate the merits of proportional representation on Global BC and CKNW starting at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Voters must return their ballots to Elections BC by Nov. 30.

The poll was conducted between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 among 963 adult British Columbians. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.15 per cent 19 times out of 20.